Combined monochrome and color display

Abstract

A display includes a screen having a first region of a color light emissive material and a second region of a monochrome material. In one embodiment, the color light emissive material is formed from triads of red, green and blue triads of subregions. A first set of emitters grouped in threes is aligned to the first region and a second set of emitters is aligned to the second region. The first set of emitters is driven by red, green, and blue components of a color image signal to produce a multicolor display. The second set of emitters is driven by a monochrome image signal to produce a monochrome display. In a display assembly according to the invention, the first and second sets of emitters are incorporated on a common substrate. The first set of emitters forms a fixed text subdisplay and the second set of emitters is arranged as a conventional matrix addressable array. The matrix addressable array provides video, graphical or textual information and the subdisplay provides textual, fixed-shaped graphical, numerical or color-coded information.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A screen assembly for displaying an image including monochrome and color image portions, comprising: a transparent plate;   a transparent conductive anode on a first surface of the plate;   a first light emissive layer covering a first portion of the anode, the first light emissive layer including a monochrome cathodoluminescent material; and   a second light emissive layer covering a second portion of the anode the second light emissive layer including a color cathodoluminescent material operable to selectively emit light in a first wavelength range in response to a first excitation signal and to emit light in a second wavelength range in response to a second excitation signal.   
     
     
       2. The screen assembly of claim 1 wherein the color cathodoluminescent material of the second light emissive layer includes a plurality of separate materials at respective interstitial locations. 
     
     
       3. The screen assembly of claim 1 wherein the color cathodoluminescent material includes a triad of discrete red, green and blue subregions formed from respective red, green and blue emissive materials. 
     
     
       4. The screen assembly of claim 1 wherein the first portion defines a substantially contiguous block. 
     
     
       5. A display for displaying an image including monochrome and color image portions, the color image portion having a selected pixel size, comprising: a screen assembly including a light emissive layer, the light emissive layer including a first light emissive region of a monochrome cathodoluminescent material and a second light emissive region of a color cathodoluminescent material;   an electron-emitting assembly facing the screen assembly, wherein a first portion of the electron-emitting assembly is aligned with the first light emissive region and a second portion of the electron-emitting assembly is aligned with the second light emissive region; and   a driving circuit having a monochrome output coupled to the first portion of the electron-emitting assembly and a color output coupled to the second portion of the electron-emitting assembly.   
     
     
       6. The display of claim 5 wherein the electron-emitting assembly includes an emitter substrate having a plurality of electron emitters disposed thereon. 
     
     
       7. The display of claim 6 wherein the driving circuit includes an integrated control circuit coupled to control electron emission from the emitters, the control circuit being integrated into the emitter substrate. 
     
     
       8. The display of claim 5 wherein the color cathodoluminescent material includes a plurality of discrete subregions, each smaller than the selected pixel size. 
     
     
       9. The display of claim 8 wherein each of the subregions includes a respective one of a red, a green and a blue emissive material. 
     
     
       10. The display of claim 5 wherein the second light emissive region is configured to display textual information. 
     
     
       11. A field emission display for producing first and second discrete, independent image portions, comprising: an emitter substrate having a contiguous first emitter section defining a first area for displaying the first image portion, and a second contiguous emitter section defining a second area for displaying the second image portion; and   a display screen having a cathodoluminescent layer, the cathodoluminescent layer having a first region of a first monochrome emissive material aligned with the first emitter section and a second region adjacent the first region of a second color emissive material aligned with the second emitter section.   
     
     
       12. The display of claim 11, including a control circuit coupled to the emitter substrate. 
     
     
       13. The display of claim 12 wherein the control circuit includes a first output coupled to the first emitter section and a second output separately coupled to the second emitter section. 
     
     
       14. The display of claim 11 wherein the control circuit includes a combining circuit operative to receive a first signal representing the first image portion and a second signal representing the second image portion, wherein the combining circuit is further operative to produce a combined signal representing both the first and second image portions. 
     
     
       15. The display of claim 11 wherein the first material is selected to emit light at a first wavelength and the second material is selected to emit light at a second wavelength different from the first wavelength. 
     
     
       16. The display of claim 11, further comprising a third emitter section aligned to the display screen, wherein the cathodoluminescent layer includes a third region aligned to the third emitter section, the third region including a material selected to emit light at the third wavelength different from the first and second wavelengths. 
     
     
       17. The display of claim 16 wherein the material of the third region is a monochrome material. 
     
     
       18. The display of claim 17 wherein the first image portion is a video image. 
     
     
       19. The display of claim 18 wherein the second image portion is a fixed display. 
     
     
       20. The display of claim 18 wherein the second image portion is a graphical image. 
     
     
       21. A display apparatus for displaying at least one image having a selected pixel size, comprising: a signal generator;   a screen assembly including a light emissive layer, the light emissive layer including a first light emissive region of a monochrome cathodoluminescent material and a second light emissive region having first and second other cathodoluminescent materials patterned into a plurality of subregions, each subregion defining an area smaller than the selected pixel size, each subregion including a respective one of the first and second other cathodoluminescent materials;   an electron-emitting assembly facing the screen assembly, wherein a first portion of the electron-emitting assembly is aligned with the first light emissive region and a second portion of the electron-emitting assembly is aligned with the second light emissive region, the second portion including a plurality of electron emitters each aligned with a respective one of the subregions and configured for selective activation of the respective subregion; and   a driving circuit having a monochrome output coupled to the first portion of the electron-emitting assembly and a color output coupled to the second portion of the electron-emitting assembly, the driving circuit having an input coupled to the signal source.   
     
     
       22. The display apparatus of claim 21 wherein the first and second other cathodoluminescent materials are grouped in pairs, each pair corresponding to a respective pixel. 
     
     
       23. The display apparatus of claim 22 wherein the video signal generator includes a night vision imaging system. 
     
     
       24. The display apparatus of claim 22 wherein the video signal generator includes a camcorder. 
     
     
       25. The display apparatus of claim 22 wherein the video signal generator includes a television receiver. 
     
     
       26. The display apparatus of claim 22 wherein the video signal generator includes a video cassette recorder. 
     
     
       27. The display apparatus of claim 22 wherein the video signal generator is a computer. 
     
     
       28. The display apparatus of claim 22 wherein the electron-emitting assembly includes an emitter substrate. 
     
     
       29. The display apparatus of claim 28 wherein the first and second portions are included within a single array of rows and columns. 
     
     
       30. A method of displaying information with a display device including a cathodoluminescent layer having a first section of a color material and a second section of a monochrome material, comprising the steps of: producing a color image portion including chrominance information by selectively activating the first section of the cathodoluminescent layer; and   producing a monochrome image portion excluding chrominance information by activating the second section of the cathodoluminescent layer.   
     
     
       31. The method of claim 30 wherein the information is color information, further including the steps of: providing a third section of the screen assembly having a third cathodoluminescent material different from the color and monochrome materials; and   activating the third section of the cathodoluminescent layer to produce a third image portion.   
     
     
       32. The method of claim 30 wherein the display includes a matrix addressable array of emitters, wherein the step of producing a color image portion including chrominance information includes the step of activating selected emitters in the matrix addressable array to produce video, graphical, or textual images including chrominance information. 
     
     
       33. The method of claim 30 wherein the display includes a matrix addressable array of emitters, wherein the step of producing a monochrome image portion includes the step of activating selected emitters in the matrix addressable array to produce video, graphical, or textual images. 
     
     
       34. A method of displaying information with a field emission display having a plurality of emitters and a cathodoluminescent layer including a plurality of discrete sections wherein a first of the sections includes a first monochromatic emissive material selected to emit light in a first range of wavelengths and a second of the sections includes a second color emissive material selected to emit light in a second range of wavelengths different from the first range of wavelengths, comprising the steps of: aligning a first set of the emitters with the first section;   aligning a second set of the emitters with the second section;   activating the first set of emitters to produce a first image in the first range of wavelengths; and   activating the second set of emitters to produce a second image in the second range of wavelengths.   
     
     
       35. The method of claim 34 wherein the cathodoluminescent layer includes a third section including a third monochromatic material selected to emit light in a third range of wavelengths different from the first and second ranges of wavelengths, further including the steps of: aligning a third set of the emitters to the third section; and   selectively activating the third set of emitters to produce a third image in the third range of wavelengths.   
     
     
       36. A method of producing a display screen having a selected pixel size, comprising: providing a transparent plate;   providing a first monochromatic light emissive coating selected to emit light in a fixed range of wavelengths;   covering a first region of the plate with the first monochromatic light emissive coating;   providing a second color light emissive coating selected to emit light in a variable range of wavelengths; and   covering a second region of the plate with the second color light emissive coating.   
     
     
       37. The method of claim 36 wherein the second color light emissive coating includes a plurality of light emissive materials, each having a selected wavelength range, wherein the step of covering a second region of the plate with the second color light emissive coating comprises the steps of: segmenting the second region into a plurality of subregions, wherein each subregion is smaller than the selected pixel size; and   applying each of the light emissive materials to a respective subregion.